O.Carm
Celebrating At Home - 4th Sunday in Lent
Being Light in the Darkness
(John 3:14-21)
This Sunday marks a change in the Lenten focus. We are no longer so absorbed by our own limitations and weaknesses in faith. We are more confident of God’s kindness, forgiveness and healing without which we would never dare embark on this journey. We look forward to the Easter celebrations with joy and hope.
On our journey from temptation to transfiguration we are becoming, through faith in Christ, the living presence of God in the world, the light in the darkness.
The first reading today speaks about the re-building of the temple in Jerusalem – a reference back to last Sunday’s Gospel. For the ancient Jews the re-building of their temple was a moment filled with hope and expectation.
Last Sunday Jesus promised the building of a new temple to house the living presence of God and to be the meeting place between God and us.
Our Lenten journey is rebuilding us into the living Body of Christ, into dwelling places for God and meeting places between human beings and God. This is clearly seen when human needs meet God’s compassion through us. That’s when God’s love and light shine in the darkness of human lives.
Today’s Gospel contains a number of important statements of our faith: God loved the world so much that he sent his Son, not to condemn, but to save; the Son must be lifted up (crucified and resurrected) so that all who believe might have eternal life; those who do the truth come out into the light, so that it may be plainly seen that their good deeds are done in God.
The Gospel reassures us of God’s love and our salvation in Christ, and calls us to be the Light, to do the truth of God’s love by being God’s heart in the world.
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- pdf Celebrando en Familia - Cuarto Domingo de Cuaresma(665 KB)
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A Carmelite Monastery Marks 555 Years
The Oldest Enclosed Carmelite Monastery in the World Marks 555 Years of Foundation
The oldest Carmelite Monastery of Carmelite nuns celebrated its 555th anniversary in 2024. It was the fourth and final foundation of Bl. John Soreth, being canonically erected on February 11, 1469. The Carmel of Our Lady of Consolation in Vilvoorde was founded by nuns fleeing from the monastery of Liege during the “Siege of Liege” in 1468.
In March 1966, the Carmel of Vilvoorde, chose to transition from the OCARM Order to the Teresian Carmel (OCD). The nuns were given the freedom to choose whether to join an OCARM monastery in the Netherlands or make profession as Discalced Carmelites.
The community decided not to celebrate the monastery’s 555th anniversary publicly.
According to Joachim Smet’s Mirror of Carmel, during the wars between the Spanish Netherlands and Holland and France, Vilvoorde often found itself in the path of the armies. The Carmelites were forced to flee in 1621, 1635, 1667, 1695, and 1702. Despite the hardships, they managed to construct a new church building in 1671. During the 18th century, the nuns enjoyed an extended period of peace and twice—in 1728 and 1778—celebrated anniversaries of their miraculous statue of Our Lady of Consolation believed to have been acquired in 1228.
Two of the nuns gained fame for sanctity which outlived them. Mary of St. Joseph (d. 1660), was from a noble family and became prioress. Petronella van der Elst (d. 1674) was a lay sister whose brother was abbot of Grimberg in Brabant.
Nuns from Vilvoorde founded "Elzeldaal" in the town of Boxmeer. At some point Vilvoorde began educating young women which is thought to have saved it from Emperor Joseph II’s aversion to cloistered religious life.
In May 7, 2006, the monastery church was elevated to a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI, upon the recommendation of Cardinal Godfried Danneels, archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels.
On January 6, 2020, two children set the Christmas crib at the entrance of the monastery church afire. Damage to the church building was limited although the interior suffered some smoke damage, requiring cleaning and painting.
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Elective Chapter of the Monastery of Onteniente, Spain
On February 14th, the Carmelite community of the monastery of the Most Pure Blood of Christ celebrated its triennial elections. The monastery is located in Onteniente (Valencia), Spain.
The monastery has a rich history. On September 18, 1575, some intrepid nuns from the Monastery of the Most Holy Incarnation of the Word from Valencia, Spain, traveled to Onteniente with the appropriate permissions of the King D. Felipe II, those of the Patriarch and Archbishop of Valencia, San Juan de Ribera, and with the approval of the Ontenienses Jurors. They intended to found a Carmelite Monastery, a cenacle, where, in company with Mary, the mother of Jesus, nuns would pray, imploring the action of the Holy Spirit in the permanent Pentecost of the Church.
Sister Catalina Tejeda and the sisters were received with great enthusiasm by the people of the town. They saw them as their angels who would obtain God’s blessings for them. They settled in small buildings that had been set aside for them.
Only a month later, one of the Carmelites died. A month later, a second Carmelite sister died. Their faith was tested but they fought to renew it. A year after arriving, the prioress, Mother Catalina Tejeda, also died. Instead of returning to Valencia, they became even more firmly rooted in the Lord and abandoned themselves to him. Soon their small monastery filled with postulants. They purchased more ground and constructed more cells to accommodate their increasing numbers. In 1914, Sr. Joachim Felius went to the city of Caudete to found a Carmelite monastery there.
The flourishing of new members continued until the start of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Despairing of riots and persecution, the community had to disperse with sisters returning to live with their relatives. The monastery building was in flames for a whole month, becoming uninhabitable, just a pile of rubble. After three years of conflict, Spain returned to normality and the monastery came back to life. While there was great economic hardship and food was scarce. It was necessary to rebuild everything that had been destroyed. But in addition to the members of the community returning, twelve young women asked to join within a year. Enthusiastic and generous, they were not afraid of the situation of the monastery. With fervor and joy, they worked hard to restore the monastery knowing that, with meager resoures, the project would take time. The monastery eventually housed a community of 42 Carmelites sisters.
The monastery belongs to the Mater Unitatis Federation. More information can be obtained by visiting the community's webpage.
The results of the elective chapter were as follows:
Prioress | Priora | Priora:
Sor Ma Margarita Medina Armas, O. Carm.
1st Councilor | 1ª Consejera | 1ª Consigliera:
Sor Ma Jesús Barahona Berzal, O. Carm.
2nd Councilor | 2ª Consejera | 2ª Consigliera:
Sor Ma Gabriela Bordones Herrera, O. Carm.
Treasurer | Ecónoma | Economa
Sor Ma Gabriela Bordones Herrera, O. Carm.
Formator | Formadora | Formatrice
Sor Ma Gabriela Bordones Herrera, O. Carm.
Sacristan | Sacristana | Sacrestana
Sor Ma Lourdes Font Font, O. Carm.
The Statue of Our Lady Undamaged After Fire
Statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Discovered Untouched by Devastating Forest Fire
According to reports from local officials, a completely intact statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was discovered untouched during a recent forest fire that destroyed nearly 500 acres of vegetation in North Santander in Colombia.
The statue was found in the municipality of Pamplona, Colombia. Images of the statue went viral on social networks. The pictures are readily available on the internet.
According to a report in local media Correo Expreso, volunteers administering aid and donations discovered the undamaged statue. The Office of the Mayor of Pamplona shot a video at the site. During the video, Klaus Faber Mogollón, the mayor of Pamplona points out that the fire jumped across the road to the area where the statue is located. “Don’t ask me why, (but) nowhere in the grotto, not even in the back, is there any damage,” the mayor says.
So far, this environmental catastrophe hit eight Colombian departments. The North Santander has taken action to control the fire, which has been declared a public calamity.
See the news report at: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=7445060275512116
March Schedule of the Prior General
Fr. Míċeál O'Neill, the prior general, has the following schedule planned for the month of March 2024:
March 1-2: End of Canonical Visitation of the Province of Aragon, Castille, and Valencia
March 4-16: Rome: Plenary Session of General Council
March 17-31: Canonical Visitation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Part 1) This visit will include the celebrations of the closure of the Jubilee year of Carmelite presence in the DRC.
800-Year-Old Irish Carmelite Friary Vandalized
800-year-old Irish Carmelite Friary in Castlelyons Vandalized
The gardai (police) in north County Cork are appealing for help in tracking down 'taggers' who targeted the 800-year-old Carmelite foundation in Castlelyon. Although now in ruins, the monastery—a listed National Monument—has been a place of religious devotion for almost 800 years.
Several parts of the standing walls of the Friary and graveyard were tagged with black spray paint. Shocked locals reported the incident to Gardai, who have been asking for help in tracking the taggers down.
Damaging or defacing national monuments in Ireland is a specific criminal offence and carries large penalties. Fines can cost offenders up to €50,000 or 12 months in prison.
Before the incident at the Carmelite friary, another Cork graveyard was targeted by vandals who removed mementos and items families had placed on graves, including toys from the graves of children.
The Castlelyon Carmelite friary was founded around 1307 and most of the existing buildings can be dated to the 15th Century. The first provincial chapter after the restoration of the Irish Province (1741) lists Castlelyon as one of the fourteen houses making up the province. However, the Castlelyon foundation is not listed in documents of the 1819 provincial chapter.
Lectio Divina March 2024
Opening Prayer
God, we do not want to die; we want to live.
We want to be happy but without paying the price. We belong to our times, when sacrifice and suffering are out of fashion. God, make our life worth living.
Give us back the age-old realization, that life means to be born again and again in pain, that it may become again a journey of hope to You, together with Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Celebrating At Home - 3rd Sunday in Lent
Cleansing our hearts
(John 2:13-25)
The Gospels of the last two Sundays showed us that the Christian journey is from Temptation to Transfiguration. The Gospels of the next three Sundays of Lent present Jesus as the road (or The Way, as the early Christians referred to him) from temptation to transfiguration.
In the Old Testament scriptures the idea of the people of Israel being ‘the people of God’ is clearly established. By their behaviour they were to be a ‘light to the nations’, and the dwelling-place of God’s presence. Only much later did the idea of God dwelling in a building called a temple develop. Even so, the Jews never lost the sense that they were to be God’s own people.
The reading from Exodus commonly known as the Ten Commandments gives a pattern for God’s people to live in right relationship with God and neighbour; to be the dwelling-place of God’s presence.
In today’s Gospel we find a deeply passionate Jesus causing a near-riot in the outer precincts of the Temple. In John’s Gospel Jesus’ prophetic actions have less to do with ‘cleansing the Temple’ than with saying that the Temple is no longer the way to be in right relationship with God.
According to John, Jesus is the new, living temple of God’s presence and the meeting place between God and his people. Jesus is the way to be in right relationship with God and neighbour.
In our Catholic tradition we often refer to ourselves as ‘temples of the Holy Spirit’. We recognise that
we are sacred beings destined for union with God, people in whom the reign of God’s goodness
should be clearly seen in word, thought and action.
Lent is a time to decide what our life is about and what is important. Like Jesus in the Temple maybe we need to put an end to ways of thinking and behaving which clutter our lives, obscure God’s presence and fail to bring life to others.
As members of the Body of Christ we, too, are to be the place where God is found on earth.
Recent Publications from Edizioni Carmelitane
If you have not visited our webstore lately, you should check it out. We have a new look. The site can be accessed in Italian, English, and Spanish. The "search" engine as well as arranging books by collection gives quick access to all the publications. Payment can be made by credit card, debit card, or PayPal. Some books are also now available as ebooks.
St. Titus BrandsmaTitus Brandsma Mysticism -- Fundamentals and Characteristic Features, volume 4 of the Collected Works
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Bernard HooseLet Yourself Be Loved
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Antonio VitaleUn Frate PericolosoLa vicenda umana di Tito Brandsma, martire carmelitano
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Simona DuranteL'attività di padre Serafino Maria Potenza (1697-1763)
